Transportation

Tesla’s robotaxi plans have the attention of federal investigators

Transportation /

Federal safety investigators have sent Tesla a detailed list of questions on its upcoming robotaxi service as part of an investigation into how the company’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software operates in low-visibility conditions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation wants the additional information about Full Self-Driving (Supervised) — or “FSD” — […]

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Slate Auto crosses 100,000 refundable reservations in two weeks

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Buzzy new EV startup Slate Auto has racked up more than 100,000 reservations for its customizable low-cost electric pickup truck, the company has confirmed to TechCrunch. Slate crossed the milestone over the weekend, just a little more than two weeks after coming out of stealth mode and unveiling the truck at an event in Los

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GM taps Aurora co-founder for new chief product officer role

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General Motors has turned to Sterling Anderson, a veteran of the autonomous vehicle industry, to oversee its entire product line of gas-powered and electric vehicles, in a newly created job that will touch nearly every department at the U.S. automaker. The new VP of global product and chief product officer position will cover the entire

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TechCrunch Mobility: Tesla denied ‘Robotaxi’ trademark, Aurora loses a co-founder, and tariffs start to take a toll

Transportation /

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Remember last week when Aurora met a major milestone — just squeaking by under its own deadline — and launched a driverless self-driving truck service? Welp, this

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Aurora to add night driving, new routes as it ramps driverless trucking

Transportation /

Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora Innovation plans to expand on the success of its first driverless commercial launch and add night driving to its operations. Aurora said Thursday in the second half of 2025 it will start sending its self-driving trucks out at night and during adverse weather conditions like rain or heavy wind. The

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Aurora co-founder Sterling Anderson is leaving the self-driving truck startup

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Sterling Anderson, a veteran of the nascent autonomous vehicle sector and co-founder of Aurora, is resigning just a week after the company launched its commercial self-driving truck service in Texas. Anderson held the chief product officer position at Aurora. The resignation was posted in a regulatory filing along with the company’s first-quarter earnings report. His

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China’s Geely moves to take EV startup Zeekr private amid trade war with US

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China’s Geely Auto wants to take its luxury EV unit Zeekr off the New York Stock Exchange one year after the company’s debut, per Zeekr filings.  The take-private offer comes as the Trump administration explores kicking Chinese companies off American stock exchanges, part of a broader trade war that includes what has become a tariff

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Tesla’s  ‘Robotaxi’ and ‘Cybercab’ trademarks hit roadblocks ahead of June launch

Transportation /

Tesla’s attempt to trademark the term “Robotaxi” in reference to its vehicles has been refused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for being too generic, according to a new filing. Another application by Tesla to trademark the term “Robotaxi” for its upcoming ride-hailing service is still under examination by the office. In addition, applications

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Lucid Motors’ Gravity SUV dealing with early ‘hiccups,’ interim CEO says

Transportation /

Lucid Motors has been working through some quality “hiccups” in the early stages of delivering its long-awaited electric SUV, according to interim CEO Marc Winterhoff. “It is true that we had some technical issues that we had to overcome around software” and the Gravity’s heads-up display, Winterhoff said on a conference call Tuesday. “There have

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SpaceX’s Starlink has become a big benefactor of Trump’s tariff trade war, leaked memos show

Transportation /

SpaceX’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is directly benefiting from the Trump administration’s tariff trade war, according to leaked State Department memos obtained by the Washington Post.   The memos show the U.S. pushing countries to adopt Starlink. Some show that countries believe that doing so could help lubricate their U.S. trade and tariff negotiations. One memo

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